Friday, March 13, 2009

Sorry, I only recorded the 2nd Trial, and I also haven't recorded all the participants for the race day :( If the videos do not work, you can visit the alternate links that I have included.Angela's 2nd TrialAlternate Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YXtssr4qTI

First of all, I would like to congratulate Ludwig and Jesse's group + Rachel and Kelly's group for both passing the 12-meter mark. Wow! I didn't really think that anyone would actually pass the 12-meter mark, but I guess I was wrong :(

I was pretty satisfied with the results of my car as it went faster than I expected compared to the other cars. But sadly, it didn't travel in a straight line. I passed the 5-meter mark in both my trials and my car traveled a total distance of 7 meters or so. Everyone was pretty surprised because of the speed of my car, they were saying that it was like a rocket :)

Overall, race day was pretty fun, because I got to see everyone's different balloon-cars and their creativity. I hope that I get more projects like these, because this project is actually a hands-on project, not like the usual projects where you collect information and put it on a bristol board... if you know what I mean :)

This is the video of my 2nd trial, it passed the 5-meter mark in under 3 seconds.. I think.(My car actually starts moving at about o:40 seconds of the video)

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Okay, I'm really really nervous for the BIG RACE DAY tomorrow! Everyone has different cars, different designs, I want to see them all : )My car works out just fine, but, you know, something bad might happen ahhhh!BE OPTIMISTIC MAN!I'm so nervous that I'm excited, that's how I really feel haha.

The name for the final version of my balloon-car is B2Xc - 001 Sudden.B2X stands for 'Bento Box', which means 'lunch box'; c stands for 'car'; 001 means model # 1 and; Sudden is the car's name.

I chose 'Sudden' for the car name because I kept making sudden changes to the prototype version of the car, until I was finally satisfied with the final design.

Here is the final version, B2Xc - 001 Sudden, along with most of the materials I used.

More Pictures

Top View

Front View

Side View (Right)

Side View (Left)

Back View

CHANGES:As you can see, the final version is slightly different from the prototype version.• I reduced the number of straws by one, but I made the straw's size bigger.• I wrote the car name just under the straw (refer to 'top view' picture)• I changed the balloon's colour from blue to red.• I wrapped a rubber band around the straw so that its not loose and it won't wiggle around the hole.

EFFECTS:Changing the balloon and the straw made the final version of the car significantly faster than the prototype version. Some other changes in the design also made the car look more attractive.